Re: Any XXXXXXXXXX Finns here?

From: o_leppa <oleppa_at_...>
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 07:58:22 -0000

> On Tue, 11 Dec 2001, John Hughes wrote:
>
> > For those not familiar with the riches of Kalevala, Sacred Texts
have just
> > made available a complete English language e-text at
> >
> > http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/index.htm
>
> It's one of those rather tragic translations. Of course one can
sort of
> follow the plot from those, but it doesn't sound or feel right at
all.

Now you aren't that fair Mikko. Modern English simply isn't flexible enough in form so you can't expect trochaic tetrametre with satisfactory resemblance in plot combined into one translation. I'd prefer that the story is understood at least at some level.

> The poetic style of Beowulf is much closer to Kalevala, I think.
Simple
> repetition is not right, there's got to be rhymes (in the first
> syllable, no less).

That would be alliteration, not rhyming, but that you knew already, didn't you?

Otto